This, to me, is the big lie about High Definition TV. There are now, and have been for a while, some very specialized channels that are in HD all the time. There is a network called HDNET which is a good example of this and HDMovies (I believe owned by the same people). You get these channels when you subscribe to the upper end HD package from you cable or satellite provider. There are a few other channels specializing in HD like the National Geographic Channel, Discovery HD, and so forth but this number is very limited.
Other nationwide cable channels like A&E, TBS, the Food Network, etc, claim to be HD channels. However they are still airing lots and lots of programming that is not really in HD but rather reformatted in a stretched out version of the original. Let me state an example.
TBS claims that all it’s programming is in HD. However, all of the re-run, syndicated shows of the past like Seinfeld, Home Improvement, Friends, etc, etc. were never filmed in HD when they were created so they aren’t in HD now and never will be. They may fill up your entire screen if you have an HDTV (16:9 ratio) but the picture will never be in 1080i or 1080p quality. They will simply stretch the picture to fit your HD wide screen but it will still be just as grainy as it ever was when it was produced. Even if the original tapes or digital format still exist, can you imaging how much it would cost to go back and re-engineer 200 episodes for Seinfeld and then redistribute them to every local affiliate that bought the rights to air it?
My advice: WAIT. If you really want an HD TV, get one, but get a UHF/VHF Antenna and pick up as many local programs in HD as you can that way. That’s what I do. When HDTV really comes into its own, then spend the money paying the cable company to receive more programming. In my opinion, it’s not worth it now. I had it all and got rid of it all because all of this supposed HD programming available is, right now, a big Hoax.
No comments:
Post a Comment